METABOLISM OF OBESITYVIII. BASAL METABOLISM AND INSENSIBLE PERSPIRATION DURING A PERIOD OF REDUCING WEIGHT

From the Medical Clinic and the Nelson Morris Memorial Institute for Medical Research of Michael Reese Hospital. Aided by the Otto Baer Fund and the fund contributed jointly by Judge Hugo Pam and Miss Carrie Pam.

Owing to the lack of adequate provisions for prolonged metabolic work on adults during a period of reducing weight, our previous studies of this series had been made on outpatients only. An extensive investigation was conducted on three obese women, one with diabetes, during a period of eight months in 1928. The subjects were kept in a special ward provided with a kitchenette and facilities for collecting and storing excreta. They were given freedom to lead a normal life and were permitted to go about as they pleased. However, they were under the constant supervision of an attendant assigned to this task. At no time were they allowed free access to foods.

During the experimental period the subjects received a diet containing 20 Gm. of butter per twenty-four hours, 1 Gm. of protein and sufficient carbohydrate to make a total of 20 calories per kilogram of ideal weight per twenty-four